Everton new boy Tim Iroegbunam has insisted that the prospect of arriving at Goodison Park and making an immediate impression served as motivation for him to postpone his planned holiday.
The 21-year-old left his childhood club Aston Villa to join the Toffees at the very start of the summer transfer window, joining them for a fee in the region of £9m.
The young midfielder got the news of Everton’s interest from his agent in early June while he was on holiday in Greece, ahead of another break he had planned with his girlfriend.
Matters progressed and Iroegbunam sealed his move to Goodison Park on a three-year deal.
Following the completion of the move Iroegbunam insists that he cancelled his planned holiday to focus on fitness work so that he could be prepared for the new challenge.
He feels it paid off and explained his girlfriend knows they can go on holiday another time.
“We’d had it booked for ages but if I’d gone it would have left me seven days before the start of pre-season here”, Iroegbunam told his club’s official website.
“I had actually lined up some fitness work to do while I was out there but, obviously, knowing how fit you need to be, especially under the gaffer, having heard about things like Gaffer’s Day, I knew that to impress I would have to be as fit or even fitter than the rest of the squad.
“Coming here wanting to impress was a big motivation to push myself.
“I knew that staying here in England – where I knew I’d be able to get more work in – would give me the best possible chance of coming in and starting well.
“I knew for me to have a chance of coming straight in and winning a place in the team, I would need to come in and hit the ground running for pre-season.
“I have people who I’ve regularly used for fitness work back in Birmingham, so I was there every day, training two or three times per day, to make sure I was fit enough and give myself the best possible chance.”
“I said to my girlfriend that we can go on holiday again, but I only get one chance at making a first impression and, of course, I had to put that first.”
The England Under-20 international has played in each of the three Premier League matches his team have played so far, though he is yet to taste a win under Sean Dyche.
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